Today's My Birthday

When I was 18 I thought that 30 was a good age to claim.  Now that I'm older than 30, I still think that's a good number and that's all I'm admitting to today.  I took this picture in my studio before leaving for work.  This is my favorite place to be in my home.

I actually celebrated my birthday over the weekend.  My husband took me out to dinner and we attended the Universoul Circus that was in town.  I just love that circus and I've been three years in a row.  The acts were awesome and I also got to do a little dancing.  If they are in your area, give them a try.  They have two acrobatic acts from China that was unbelievable.

I did get some quilty gifts as well.  My friend and I attended Toby Lischko's grand opening of her new retreat center.  While there I fell in love with this quilt, Nouveau Riche and the pattern is free from Hoffman Fabrics.  However, Toby also has acrylic templates which makes cutting so much easier.  Toby's website is Gateway Quilts & Stuff.  I didn't see the kit, but if you contact her, I'm sure she can help you.  I did have to substitute one fabric in the kit as she was out of it.

So, since I had this birthday gift since July 10th, I decided last evening to start my birthday quilt.  I got all the cutting completed for the blocks and even sewed three blocks.  I'll have little sewing time tonight as I go to line dancing class after work.  The curves are pretty easy to sew and so far, I'm enjoying the process.

As a gift from myself, I ordered something from Hancocks of Paducah.  I've always wondered what is in those scrap bags so I ordered one.  Inside was 30 approximately 3" strips about 30" long.  I didn't get to choose the bag so I was pleasantly surprised.  I don't like reproduction fabrics and was sure that's what I'd get.  It's also not jewel tones which are my favorite fabrics to play with.  This is a very nice grouping of fabrics in pastels and I'm now searching for a design so I can use them.  The main reason for being on the site was to order some Kaffe Fassett FQs.  I purchased the 2009 Collective Reds FQ bundle.  While there I couldn't pass up this great bargain for Moda's Sandy Gervais Frolic 45 piece FQ bundle (click on View Extra Large Image to see bundle) for $49.98.  That is $1.11 for each FQ!  They are so yummy!  I'm trying to buy fabrics not in my usual theme and I just love these so much that again, I'm searching for the right pattern to showcase them.  And the best deal of all was that they had a special on shipping.  I didn't pay shipping or taxes and they arrived yesterday, just in time for my birthday!  Isn't the internet a great place to play around? 

Design Wall Monday

Knowing that this week my scrap quilting club was meeting, I went right to work, sewing the remaining rows to my cathedral stars quilt top.  After that, I decided to go ahead and add the borders as well.  I did make a small change to the design by piecing the setting triangles instead of using plain traingles.  This small change just made the edges finish with 16 patches instead of 12 squares.  This is one top I'm glad to be done with the piecing.  Sorry about the tree leaves shadows on the photo.

Here is the mystery quilt top I couldn't show you a few weeks ago.  My scrap quilting club met yesterday and now I can have the big reveal.  To learn more about this quilt and to see some in different colorways, go to this post.

I got a few steps completed on a WIP.  This mock log cabin quilt was started in September 2009.  I don't know why I put it up as it is really simple.  Maybe I didn't like the colors as they are not usually my bright jewel tones.  Although I couldn't get the colors to show up correctly at night, this is a pretty quilt and reminds me of tiles.  This will be a quilt for a male family member.  I need to work on my family/friends quilt list as I only have about 10 more to make.  Before you ask, the number needed was well over 100.  My goal is to make everyone in my family a quilt from my grandmother on down the family tree.  Some of them have managed to get more than one from me.  I still need to pick a fabric and add one more plain border before this one is done.

Judy has links to more design walls on her site.
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Type-u-later,
Tea in MO
http://www.teaquilts.com

Scrap Quilting Club

Yesterday was scrap quilting club meeting and I have lots of show and tell. 

First up, the project that I kept a mystery in a previous post is now being revealed.  LOL  Some of the participants showed their variation of Lyn Brown's Staycation pattern.  This is another great scrap pattern.  Because of the background fabric/s used, each quilt developed its own style.  You can click on photos to enlarge them.

I showed my Cathedral Stars (now called Crystal Stars) at the meeting.  This project is not due until October so I was thrilled when Karen also showed her quilt top.

We had one more Bento Box quilt top shown as well. 

This month we worked on Strip Tease and those photos will be shown next month.  Please come back to see our progress.
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Type-u-later,
Tea in MO
http://www.teaquilts.com

Design Wall Monday

First quilting project completed was hand sewing the binding on Asian Influence.  After that I went to work on the remaining siggy blocks for the wedding quilt, especially seeing as the wedding was nearing.  I made 100 more siggy blocks.  Of the 200 blocks, I have 150 of them signed.  Now I have to wait until the happy couple return from their honeymoon to view the blocks before sewing them into a quilt.  Also, some guests attended the wedding but not the reception so I'll give them the extra blocks so they can collect a few more signatures.

I spent my lunch hours last week cutting pieces for two rail fence quilts.  The blocks on the left are cut from 2.5" strips and the blocks on the right are cut from 3" strips.  I made 24 of each set although only 22 show in the picture.  They may not look like much now, but I plan to manipulate them a bit.  This will be a project for my scrap quilting club in August.  I have to work a month ahead to provide them with a cutting list.

Now, for the exciting part.  Yesterday I pulled red fabrics to make this Pineapple Nine Patch quilt.  The design is by Cathy Wierzbicki in a book titled, "Geometric Gems by That Patchwork Place."  I've only cut a few units from 5 of the 15 red fabrics I plan to use.  The pattern recommends using 12 fabrics but I added a few more in the mix as we scrap quilters tend to do.  This is a big quilt and I plan to work on it in stages.  Anyone with the book who is interested in working on this project with me, leave a comment.  If I get a few requests, I'll make a schedule for us to work on each week with links to the blogs.  You must have the book, as I'm not giving cutting or sewing directions.  This quilt is so pretty that I want to have one too...

To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Type-u-later,
Tea in MO
http://www.teaquilts.com

Asian Influence

I've finally completed Asian Influence!  I had this top quilted over a month ago then put it on the quilt rack and forgot about it.  Then with wedding preparations it got pushed aside again when I remembered that it wasn't done.  Well, this past week I finally got it completed.  This quilt is for my supervisor who is retiring at the end of August.  To make this a group project, I asked my co-workers (and they agreed) to donate to the cost of supplies.  I embroidered a label with all of our names and added it to the back.  I enjoy working with stack-n-whack type projects and this Asian print is gorgeous.  Sorry about color of picture not being true.

-------------------------- Type-u-later, Tea in MO http://www.teaquilts.com

Design Wall Monday

I had a very busy week.  I started with hemming my daughter's dress for my step-daughter's wedding.  I had to work with 3 layers and it took two evenings to make the alterations.  I also put the binding on my 4-stacked posey quilt but have not made the label or hand sewn it to the back yet.

What I did work on was my Strip Tease quilt top which is this month's project that's assigned to my scrap quilting club that meets the 4th Saturday of the month.  I'm trying to decide if I want to float this with the white fabric since all the edges are bias.  I think maybe a 2" border wouldn't take away from the design.

The following blocks are what I made from the strip ends when cutting my blocks for Strip Tease.  They are various sizes.  I decided not to square them all to the same size.  I think I may have a massive long term project in mind for these blocks and many others that I have in my collection.  I might throw in a few UFOs into this project as well.

Now, because I was a good girl and altered the dress mentioned above, I rewarded myself and started another project.  The Instant Karma pattern was perfect for a great niece who wanted an orange, pink, and purple quilt.  Huh...LOL  I've been trying to figure out since March how to make that happen.  I saw this pattern and decided it would work with her color choices if I used orange and pink as one color group instead of two.  The binding will be purple to finish off that color as an accent.  This quilt was fast to make so join me in making one and let me know about it.  Stop by Lyn's site to see hers that's made in black background with orange accent.

This is the charity top, backing and binding that I talked about last week on DWM.  It's now ready for me to pass to my quilt buddy to quilt and bind.  The Stash Buster pattern is available online for free.

To view more design walls, go here.
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Type-u-later,
Tea in MO
http://www.teaquilts.com

Design Wall Monday

Hello and welcome to another Design Wall Monday.  I've had a very productive week.  I did finish my "mystery" scrap quilting club quilt top I talked about last week.  I'll post photos from the entire group at the end of the month. 

My picture below shows my design wall as it currently stands:
(1) The blue and pink blocks and strips on the left are a charity project that I'm working on with a buddy.  I sewed the blocks and will make the quilt top.  The strips will be the binding and if I get time, I'll make the backing.  Then I pass it to my buddy who will quilt the top and bind it.  The pattern can be found here.
(2) The diagional strips block and strings to the left is the start of the July scrap quilting club project that will be assigned later this month.  My strips are all sewn for the project.  I'm working ahead so I can tell them what to do as I don't have written directions online for this one.  It has a cleaver technique for cutting the strings into blocks without sewing the diagional seams.  I'm hoping to make a tutorial for this one that will be posted in August.
(3) The stack of 12 blocks with snowman fabric and snowman embroidered center are for an online calendar block swap.  I had the month of January so I made "Snowman in an Evening Star" for the trade.  They'll be mailed tomorrow.

My last project this week was piecing a Bento Box quilt top for charity quilt donated by the scrap quilting club.  One member donated her center with 12 blocks to start this project.  I asked additional participants to donate blocks and they did.  I cut and rearranged them into this setting, making an additional 18 blocks that were placed around the provided center.  I have such a great group that I have someone making the backing, providing the quilting, providing the batting, and sewing the binding.  I really do have a terrific group of quilters surrounding me.

I put the cathedral stars on the back burner this week.  I hope to get back to that after my step-daughter's weeding next weekend.  I have a busy week scheduled sewing/not quilting too much though.  My daughter (who is maid of honor) is about 5 feet and her dress is about 5 inches too long.  It has 3 full layers so that's what I'll be doing this week starting tomorrow.  So, I have today to quilt, maybe go to JoAnn's, and do the laundry.  To see what other design walls are showing, visit Judy's site.
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Type-u-later,
Tea in MO
http://www.teaquilts.com

Scrap Quilting Club

I forgot to upload show and tell from the last scrap quilting club meeting.

We had more Twist and Shout  quilts/tops show up this month (NOTE - click on photos to make them larger; then click again for details):

Of course we had more Modified Bento Box quilts/and tops to show as well:

And I was really excited to see the Cathedral Stars units/blocks.  Please excuse my labels in the photo for "crystal stars".  For some reason that what I call this quilt every now and then...Maybe I should name my quilt that, huh?  I was impressed that I had this many participants working on the project and every last one of them will look different (and I mean that in a good way).  Enjoy...

Don't forget to come back for the next 4th Saturdary report.  We are working on a fantastic project and it really is amazing how they look so different based on fabric choices.

-------------------------- Type-u-later, Tea in MO http://www.teaquilts.com

June Finish and What I'm Working On

I finally got this tote bag for my little friend, Natalie who lives in Atlanta.  I've been trying to get one made for her since March.  She wanted the tote to have orange, purple and green colors on it.  She then went on to add pink, yellow, and I can't remember what else.  Since she'll be in town on Friday, I quickly made this one for her.  It is diffenetly bright.  I hope to have time to add crystals with her initials and some buttons as embellishments if I can get back to it before her arrival.

This photo is the makings of a swap with Pins and Needles.  Each participant signed up for a month and will make 12 blocks that feature something in that month.  Since I'm a snowman collector, I decided to take the month of January.  Last evening I got all the embroideries completed and made one test block.  Today I will continue cutting the pieces and hopefully get the blocks completed over the weekend.  I plan to mail them next week.

-------------------------- Type-u-later, Tea in MO http://www.teaquilts.com